🌟#NetworkEffectively 🤝#GetRecognized 🤝#Referrals
Hey everyone! 👋 I’m curious, how do you people network effectively to get recognized and receive referrals? 🤔 It’s such an important aspect of advancing in our careers, so I’d love to hear your thoughts and tips! Here are a few suggestions I have:
– Attend networking events and industry conferences to meet new people and expand your connections 💼
– Utilize social media platforms like LinkedIn to connect with professionals in your field and share your achievements 📲
– Offer to help others in their projects or tasks to build a positive reputation and increase your chances of receiving referrals 🤝
– Join professional organizations or networking groups to access exclusive opportunities and resources 🌐
What do you think? Any other strategies or advice you could share with the rest of us? Let’s help each other succeed! 💪 #SupportEachOther #GrowTogether
It’s really not that complicated. Just get out there and meet people. Be memorable and be personable. The key is to start early before you need a job. Give yourself a minimum of 3 months before you expect any result. When you know what you’re doing it will be much easier.
It’s pretty clear to me when people network for the sake of networking and looking out for themselves. Connect with people and build relationships if they like you they will want to help you.
Focus on being interested in others instead of trying to be the most interesting person. Literally no one cares if you’ve jumped off a plane naked in the Swiss Alps. However, people will always remember you if you take an interest in his/her life.
Read how to win friends and influence people by Dale Carnegie.
I am going to repost my comment from the MBA thread about networking.
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Networking is building relationships with people across your industry and relative industries. For example, I work in commercial banking for a smaller regional bank managing a portfolio of loans. I spend some of my evenings throughout the month attending networking events like cocktail hours. At these events I mingle with attorneys, other lenders, private equity people, investment bankers, CPAs, brokers, etc. While I’m at these events, I collect every card from someone I converse with and have a follow up conversation no more than 3 days after the event. I typically try to schedule a lunch with them with the follow up. Why would I network with my competitor or these other people?
• my competitor (other banks): because one day I may find myself on a list of layoffs due to company reorg/realignment. Because I have built up friendships and meaningful relationships with these people, I can reach out and see if their team is hiring. Since they know me and have a relationship with me, my resume goes straight to the hiring manager, not the application black hole.
The second reason I network with my competition is that I can refer deals to them I’m kicking out or cannot get done due to credit policy. Guess who they think of when they’re in the same spot? Me. And if you deliver on a deal, now they know you can help them with either a new deal for them or executing a deal to take them out on something their credit team doesn’t like or may no longer lend to/do business with/ or whatever. The reputation begins to grow that you can do your job well. Word spreads like wildfire.
• Private Equity, Investment Bankers, CPAs, Attorneys, Turnaround Consultants: I network with them for potential deal sources and for all the reasons above. I go golfing with the them, attend charity fundraising events, etc.
Now that I have established a network in my industry, people know my name. They think of the company I work for and they think ahh yes dadvidgoldstein2023 works there. I’m building my brand.
Guess what happens when I need a referral? Or a letter of recommendation? Or maybe someone needs to nominate someone for an award for their society? They don’t pick some random person they don’t know. They pick people they know who have influence and have made a name (this actually happened to me already and I was published for the award).
Networking is about building relationships with people your desired industry or current industry to build a brand and reputation for yourself.
Act accordingly and it should reap bountiful fruits for a long time.
Ask people to go for a coffee chat or take them to lunch. Don’t talk about what you want from them. This is the dating stage. Ask them questions about themselves or their business. Get to know them. Questions like, “Any plans for the summer with the family?” or “how’s the latest fed announcement impacting XYZ?” or any other ice breaker and take it from there. Just be friendly and keep fostering the relationship as if you want to become their friend. Because you actually do want to be their friend. You might end inviting some of these people to your future wedding (literally happening to me).
Message on LinkedIn